Barriers Crumbling
by SeraNeputsune
Summary: The story of Minerva McGonagall's life starting from her first year of Hogwarts showing the development of her relationship with Dumblebore, their troubles and the barriers that fall away.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: I was reading, and I noticed there weren't many really well written enjoyable Minerva and Albus stories, especially in the mature section. Do other's find it disgusting perhaps? Romance is purely mental in my opinion, so I find Albus and Minerva darling, and quite beautiful. But it's a matter of opinion.

_July 20, 1936_

Minerva McGonagall sat at the breakfast table quietly eating a sandwich. A peculiar breakfast for some, but it was completely normal for Minerva. She didn't care much for breakfast foods, and sandwiches were so handy. They fit neatly in one hand allowing the other free to hold a book aloft.

Minerva sighed, setting down her copy of _Hogwarts, a History._ It would be another year before her letter came. She was only ten. Mind you, she didn't think that was quite fair. Her birthday was, after all, this October. She would be able to keep up; she had even read several textbooks to prepare herself.

"Minerva."

"Yes mum?" asked Minerva, politely looking up from her book.

Her mother smiled and handed her a letter.

Minerva stared at it for several seconds. Was it what she thought it was? It said it was from Hogwarts but… Minerva didn't think that was possible. She hesitantly opened it.

Minerva skimmed it quickly in disbelief. She smiled at her mother. "Mum, I get to go to Hogwarts this year."

"I know dear."

Minerva blinked. "How? I'm not old enough yet."

"Well, that's never stopped you from doing anything before. Being young is not a hindrance. It can work to your advantage."

"How?" asked Minerva, her eyebrows furrowed.

"You remember when you first played your Da at chess?"

Minerva smiled. Her father was a marvelous chess player. "That's the only time I beat Da, you know. He was so shocked."

Her mother smiled, tucking a wisp of ebony hair behind her ear. "I'm sure you'll use your age to your advantage as always."

Minerva nodded. "Could you get me these books? I don't have all of them… and maybe a new copy of _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_. Mine's falling apart. You must have had it for at least a decade."

"Actually it's only been in print since 1927, only younger than you by two years," said her mother with a smile.

"Oh… it's in awful bad shape for its age," said Minerva.

Her mother giggled. "Well, you're incessant reading is to blame."

"Sorry mum…"

"Don't worry about it. You know your reading is an asset," said her mother. She cocked her head as if she were listening for something. "Da's home. Maybe you can get him to take you to Diagon Alley and get some new books. Mind you, some of your other books are still in good condition, and we aren't exactly rich, so it'd be nice if you didn't make sure to save as much as possible."

"Of course mum. Hi Da."

"How's me darlin' girl?" asked Minerva's father in a thick Scottish accent.

"Good. Da? Will you take me to Flourish and Blotts?" asked Minerva giggling as he squeezed her with a hug.

His face fell. "Another book Minnie? I don' know if we can afford it…"

"You'll have to afford it, our daughter's starting at Hogwarts," said Minerva's mother.

"Is that right? Well, then Minnie, we'll hafta afford it."

Minerva bit her lip. She didn't want to think about money problems. She knew she didn't have to. Her parents would take care of it.

_September 1, 1936_

Minerva hurried onto the train and went to the very last compartment where she hoped she wouldn't be disturbed. She pulled out her transfiguration book and started reading. As she had walked past some students were talking about how difficult the transfiguration teacher was, and she wanted to make sure to make a good impression.

She listened to conversations that wafted through the train. At first she was annoyed and almost got up to shut the door, but then something stopped her.

"What house do you think you'll be in?" a student asked of another.

"Maybe Gryffindor. I hope Ravenclaw though. That's the obvious choice. Any other house and you'd be stuck with dummies."

"I want to be in Hufflepuff. People would be polite, not call each other dummies."

Minerva shut her door completely not wanting the argument to disturb her thoughts. She read _Hogwarts, a History_, and knew all about the houses. Still, she didn't know which one she would prefer. Ravenclaw had sounded good, yet the sound of the other student made them sound haughty. The sorting hat decided anyway, so she continued reading about Switching Spells near the end of the book.

"Would you like anything to eat?" asked a woman pushing a trolley of candies.

"No thank you," said Minerva not looking up.

"Better get dressed dearie, getting close now…" said the lady shutting the compartment door.

Minerva sighed, shut the book, and quickly changed. The train slowed to a stop and she disembarked, trying not to get trampled by the older students.

"First years… First years… I'm Ogg and I'll be leading you to the castle."

Minerva followed behind him and into the castle.

It was astounding. She had seen pictures in books before, but to see the actual castle… it was just stunning. She knew the ceiling was enchanted, but it looked just like the sky.

An old wizard stood talking. Minerva didn't really take in much of what he was saying.

"Welcome the first years, and I hope everyone remembers to stay out of the Forbidden Forest this year. Professor Dumbledore, would you bring the hat out please?" asked the headmaster. Minerva had gathered from the chatter that he was to be called Professor Dippet, or Headmaster Dippet.

Another wizard brought a hat to the stool and stood. He had splendid auburn hair and a beard. He looked to be in his forties, and had bright sparkling blue eyes. Minerva pursed her lips, deep in thought. He looked very intelligent. She didn't know why she thought this, but that was her belief. She decided she might have to find out more about this Professor Dumbledore.

Minerva sighed as the hat sung its song. She'd read about it and its annoying singing habit. After several minutes the singing subsided and applause filled the room. Minerva watched anxiously as Professor Dumbledore pulled out a piece of parchment. He began reading off names and one by one the students were sorted into the four various houses.

"Minerva McGonagall," he said finally.

Minerva sat down on the hard stool and felt the hat drop down around her ears.

"Another difficult one… So much potential… Intelligent. Very intelligent. Perhaps Ravenclaw? But there's so much bravery there… It doesn't matter to you? Well then in that case…

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Minerva stood and went nervously over to the Gryffindor table. She sat down quietly, ignored by the others. Throughout the feast she remained quiet, merely watching the staff table, trying to get an idea what her professors would be like. She decided she'd probably need a good night's sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note: Thank you so much for your reveiws. I really apreciate feedback.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. J.K. Rowling does.

_September 2, 1936 _

Minerva woke up early. The sun had just risen and the view from the tower was amazing. She stood looking across the grounds. The soft morning light made the world look surreal like a watercolor painting. It was as if the trees could ooze their green paint, and everything seemed to run together blended.

Minerva thought that it suited that day. Life at Hogwarts hadn't sunken in and it didn't feel quite real yet. With that thought, Minerva went down for breakfast.

Professor Dumbledore watched her as she entered. It was early and not many students were in there yet. He came over to her and handed her a slip of paper.

"First year right? I thought you might want your schedule ahead of time, being so early to breakfast," said Professor Dumbledore with a smile.

"Thank you," said Minerva brightly. She looked down at her schedule. Transfiguration, then history of magic. She smiled. Transfiguration sounded like the most interesting of all subjects. Of course, that was just from reading the book. She frowned. What if she wasn't good at it?

She hurried upstairs to her dorm and grabbed out the books she needed for the day. She frowned as she looked at the transfiguration book.

She could do all of the simple spells in chapter one flawlessly, but what if she needed to demonstrate further? Suppose they covered all of chapter one today and went on to chapter two? It was after all, a very long book, much longer than could be covered in one year, if they didn't finish several chapters in one week.

Minerva went to chapter two. She could do a few flawlessly, and could do all to some degree. She vowed she'd practice until time for class.

After turning several bugs into misshapen buttons, Minerva decided she'd just have to try her best. She grabbed up her books and hurried to the classroom.

She was quite surprised to find it completely empty and wondered for a moment if she had somehow gotten lost. She looked at her schedule and frowned. She started back to the door.

Professor Dumbledore was standing there smiling. "Don't worry, you got the right room. I just didn't expect any students to be early on the first day. Take a seat."

Minerva smiled and sat down in the middle of the front row. She got her book out. She sat patiently as Professor Dumbledore looked at some books on his desk at the front of the room. Slowly the students began to file in.

Finally, Professor Dumbledore looked up from what he was doing. "Everyone is here. Let's start the lesson."

Minerva sat up expectantly.

He began the lecture. Minerva frowned. He was saying things from the very first page of the book. Surely, he expected someone would have read ahead. She sighed and relaxed. Things would go well, if not very slow, this year.

"I've given you all a match. If you would, try to turn it into a needle," said Professor Dumbledore.

Minerva sat stubbornly still. He was so incredibly condescending. If he thought anyone would struggle then he was a silly fool. She would refuse to turn it into a needle until he asked her properly. Then she noticed other students were having no effect on the needle. She thought that odd. On her first try ages ago, she had turned it silver, hard, and somewhat pointed.

"Miss McGonagall, I'm going to have to ask you to at least try to turn it into a needle," said Professor Dumbledore gently.

Minerva stared at him. "I won't," she replied simply.

Everyone stared at her shocked someone would talk to a teacher like that.

Professor Dumbledore blinked and pondered her answer. "Why not?"

"Because I don't _try _at anything," said Minerva.

"All right. Then please turn the match into a needle," said Professor Dumbledore with a smile.

Minerva pointed her wand at the match, muttered the incantation, and then held up the needle for Professor Dumbledore's inspection.

"Well done, ten points for Gryffindor I think," said Professor Dumbledore loudly.

After everyone else was busy trying hard to complete the task, Professor Dumbledore came back over to Minerva.

"How advanced are you?" asked Professor Dumbledore quietly.

"Well, I can do up through chapter two flawlessly now," said Minerva truthfully.

"Interesting. I don't expect you to do this perfectly, but could you try turning this tortoise into a teapot?" asked Professor Dumbledore.

After learning the wand motions and the spell, Minerva tried it. The tortoise became a teapot with tortoise shell markings and was slightly greenish in color. Minerva frowned.

"Excellent. I want to speak with you after class," said Professor Dumbledore with a twinkle in his eyes.

Minerva waited out the rest of the class period. By the end only a few other students had made any progress at all. Minerva hesitantly went up to Professor Dumbledore's desk. After a few moments, he looked up.

"What did you want to speak to me about, Professor?" asked Minerva hesitantly.

"You did third year magic today better than a lot of third years do on their first try. Now we have to decide what to do about this."

"Do?" asked Minerva frowning.

"Yes, we can't let such talent go to waste, and it would be wasted with you sitting here bored all of the time. So now we have to decide what to do," said Professor Dumbledore.

"I see. So what are we going to do then?" asked Minerva curiously.

"Well, you could be switched immediately to having classes with third years, but I don't think that would go over well with the administration. We could switch you into a second year class, which would become dull after a short while," said Professor Dumbldore.

"Does that mean I'm stuck in this level?" asked Minerva.

"Yes it does, but it's not a bad thing. It will give you time to adjust to life at Hogwarts. You can always use this period to catch up on homework, light reading, and whatever else you wish," said Professor Dumbledore with a smile.

"Really?" asked Minerva.

"As long as you can demonstrate you can do the lesson flawlessly. And you'll still have to do essays and such."

"Thank you, Professor," said Minerva leaving.

She carried her history of magic textbook to lunch and sat down. She began reading and stuffed bites of food down her throat when she thought about it.

"Can you believe that McGonagall? She's such a stuck up suck up," said a girl from the Slytherin table.

"Olive, don't say such things! She's just a little first year, what harm is she?" asked another girl.

"If you don't remember I'm just a first year as well. She's got Professor Dumbledore wrapped around her finger. Now she's over there reading a textbook. I bet she sucks up to all the teachers. I'm just glad I haven't had a class with her yet," said Olive.

Minerva scowled a flustered blush creeping onto her cheeks. She nervously closed the book and hurried to the Gryffindor tower.

She didn't understand how this girl called Olive knew anything about her. She definitely wasn't in the classroom. She sighed. She didn't think gossip spread so quickly. Nothing in any book had prepared her for this, and she'd read several on adolescents.

"Oh well," she sighed. This would not interfere in any of her plans. She would be the cleverest witch in her year… Or look like she was at any rate.


End file.
